


i see you

by shairiru



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-02-23 07:24:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2539304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shairiru/pseuds/shairiru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Midorima finds Akashi in his search for a place to be alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween!

Fate must have led him on that room on the top floor of their school that day. 

He was looking for a place to spend time alone and to skip club activities, and his wandering feet brought him there. The surroundings were pretty quiet, and nobody seemed to be around.

_Make acquaintances, make friends_ , they say, but it’s just too much work for him. He doesn’t want to pretend to get along with people not on his wavelength. No one can just keep up with him, and it’s pathetic seeing them try so hard.  _But I could really use someone to get along with_ , he thinks as he opens the door and finds another person already in there. The person turns to the sound of the wood creaking.

“I’m sorry,” Shintarou starts, “I didn’t me—”

“You can see me?” the boy hurriedly stands up.

“Uh, yeah. Were you hiding from someone? I’m really sorry for intruding—”

“No, no, it’s nothing. Stay here if you’d like. I won’t be a bother.”

And he’s not. 

It so happens that every time Shintarou takes solace in that room, the red-haired boy would always be there, silently playing shogi alone. They have never talked again since their very first exchange, but being with someone in that quiet room comforts Shintarou, somehow. It isn’t friendship, per se, but he realizes that having some company, even in this way, is better than not having one.

“Do you need an opponent?” he says out of the blue, one afternoon. The boy looks at him in an unmasked expression of surprise. “You’re always playing alone.”

“Wouldn't you be bothered?”

“I wouldn’t be. I’ve read enough for today anyway,” he raises the book he’s holding.

“Yamamura-sensei, I’m fond of his writing style but not his ideas.”

“Me, too. I also like how he builds the worlds in his stories,” he answers before he realizes it himself.

The boy smiles and fixes the shogi pieces in place. “Please, take a seat. I’m Akashi Seijuurou, by the way.”

“Midorima Shintarou,” he sits and helps Akashi arrange the board, “Are we on the same year? I don’t think I see you around the school except here.”

“Not really.”

“What do you mean?”

“We could have been on the same year, I believe. But the thing is,” Akashi places the final piece, the king, on his side of the board and meets Shintarou’s eyes, “I’m already dead.”

The temperature in the room seems to drop by many degrees, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The room seems much quieter than usual. He feels a line of cold sweat run down his back.

“You seem alive.”

“You’re not scared?”

“I’m not,” Shintarou says, “But I’ve been seeing ghosts since I was young so this isn’t new. It’s just that you looked so much alive that the thought of a boy hanging out in an empty room as a ghost didn’t even cross my mind. And if you were harmful, you could have hurt me long ago. I guess I’m not scared.”

“I’d say you’re nervous,” Akashi laughs, “You talked too much.”

Shintarou lifts his hands in the air and sees them shaking. “You’re right.”

“Sorry for dropping it on you like this. I just don’t want to make a fool out of you for a long time.”

“I appreciate your honesty.”

“Then, shall we start with the game?”

Shintarou loses and bids his goodbye.

 

He comes back the next afternoon.

“I didn’t think you’d return.”

“I still have to win a game against you.”

“Good luck with that.”

—-

“How did you die, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Leaves are starting to fall from the trees, and the wind is becoming much colder. Shintarou starts to wear a scarf around his neck to prevent the cold from getting to him. Akashi doesn’t, because he can’t feel anymore.

He makes a move before answering, “I can’t remember. All I know is that I died.”

“How long have you been in this room then?”

“I don’t know, too. I’ve lost my sense of time,” he looks out the window, the sunset casting lonely shadows on his face, “but I can see that it’s autumn already. How about you?” he turns back to Shintarou, “What brought you to this room?”

“I wanted to be alone.”

“Sorry for being here then.”

“It’s alright,” Shintarou shrugged, “I mean, meeting you isn’t all that bad.”

“So it’s bad, but not _that_  bad?”

“No, I mean, well, you…you’re the closest person I can call my friend. I don’t usually get along with people.”

“It makes sense. I am not a person. I’m a ghost, after all.”

“I don’t think it would make a difference if you were alive. I’d still like you.”

“You flatter me too much, but it won’t win you this game,” Akashi smiles, “Checkmate.”

Shintarou, defeated, collects the shogi pieces and rearranges them on the board, as per the punishment for the losing player in their game. For the record, it has always been he who has to do it.

“Would you fancy another round?” Akashi asks.

“It’s too early,” he answers as he checks his watch, “Besides, we really haven’t had a conversation before, have we? You look like you need someone to talk to.”

“It’s not like I can tell you anything. I told you before; I have no memories of my life. Actually, why don’t you tell me about yours?”

“Mine?”

“Your life.” Their eyes meet. They were strangers no more. “I’d like it if you’d tell me more about yourself.”

—-

Snow falls steadily outside. Shintarou’s breath forms a small cloud when he exhales. Seijuurou’s doesn’t, because he doesn’t breathe anymore. Or maybe he does, it’s just that no air comes out from him. Or maybe there is, it’s just that Shintarou can’t see anymore, because Seijuurou seems translucent now.

“Is it just me or it’s harder to see you recently?”

Seijuurou raises his hand against the light. A few rays pass through.

“I’m dying again.”

—-

Leaves begin to grow on their branches, and the atmosphere is alive with the promise of spring. The promise of new life. But in a certain room on a certain school, one begins to fade away.

“It’s weekend today,” Seijuurou notes.

“I know,” Shintarou has to focus his sight just to see him clearly.

“Why are you here at school?”

“I thought you could use some company,” he finally sees him clearly and sees Seijuurou’s eyes, and  _Is he crying?_

“You’re right.”

—-

Shintarou is only one move from checkmate. He is waiting for Seijuurou to do it. The other boy has been flickering in and out of view the entire time, and Shintarou had to listen well if he wanted to hear what Seijuurou was saying because it was just barely above a whisper.

“Make your move now.”

“Shintarou-”

“Go on. Then we can start the next round. I still have to defeat you.”

“Our time is up,” Seijuurou makes a show of reaching for his shogi piece. His hand passes through. “I can’t continue our game.”

Shintarou stares at him helplessly. He knows it was coming, but now that it is actually happening, he can’t take it, after all. Sejuurou stands and walks to his side, bringing his lips near his ear.

“Thank you for telling me about your life, for making me feel alive again. I’ve never had friends from when I was alive. You’re the friend I’ve always wished for.”

“You remember?” Shintarou turns to him.

“I never forgot and I’m sorry for lying. But my life isn’t something to talk about,” he averts his gaze to their unfinished match, “This is goodbye, Shintarou.”

“Nonsense. We’ll still meet here tomorrow for our usual game, right?”

He sees Seijuurou smile sadly. Through him, he sees the purple sky and the setting sun and thinks how things come and go, how people come and go and it just happens that Seijuurou came late and would have to go early.

“Close your eyes,” Seijuurou instructs and he obliges, if it’s the last thing he could do for him. He commits Seijuurou’s face, how he looked one with the sky, in his mind.

A cold wind is pressed on his cheek. It isn’t the same cold he felt when Seijuurou told him about his being a ghost; it’s the cold of the night that comes after a burning day. It’s the cold of autumn that tells you winter is approaching. It’s a cold that tells him that it couldn’t have been over. But it is, and there’s nothing that could be done. He says something. And when he opens his eyes, he only sees the purple sky and the first few stars of the night.

—-

Shintarou comes back the next day. He takes his usual place in front of the shogi board. The pieces, unmoved since yesterday, wait for a checkmate that will never happen.

Seijuurou never shows up again to claim victory.


	2. -alternate end-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The alternate happy ending I promised to Desy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disregard the last paragraph of the original one and have this instead (:3

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom as it welcome the new school year. However, some things never change. Shintarou drops by the room he and Seijuurou used to hang out in. It’s been a year since then. He faithfully returned to that room every afternoon, but no one shows up every time. This year will be his last in this school, and his last in that room. And then, everything and every memory will be left behind.

 

But upon entering the room, he realizes immediately that something is amiss. He checks the shogi board and finds out that he has already lost. Checkmate.

 

“You’re late,” a familiar voice says behind him, “It’s your turn to rearrange the board. Time for a new game. Funny how no one cleaned this room up for the past year, huh,” he turns around and sees Seijuurou in their school uniform, holding two cans of drinks on his hands. Seijuurou throws him one and he nearly misses catching it, “You like red bean soup, if I remember correctly, right?”

 

He’s at loss for words.

 

“Say something, Shintarou,” Seijuurou smiles tentatively,“I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

 

“You’re alive,” he finally says, more to himself.

 

“Turns out I wasn’t actually dead,” he takes his seat and opens his can, “Apparently, I was in comatose. But I remember being in this room and everything that happened within. I’ve done my research, though I’m not really a believer of this supernatural things. What you have encountered could have been a materialization of my consciousness. Well, I won’t dwell on the specifics, come on now.”

 

“You’re alive.”

 

“Saying it twice will not invalidate my existence. Now come and sit, I believe I owe you my life story.”

 

Midorima takes his seat and hesitantly reaches for Seijuurou’s hand. It feels so unreal how warm it is against his own skin and how it fits perfectly with his own hand. He feels the racing pulse beneath Seijuurou’s wrist, and suddenly, he’s aware of how fast his own heart is beating. He pulls away quickly and adjust his eyeglasses, trying to hide the heat he feels spreading on his face. He sneaks a glance at Seijuurou and sees him staring away, his cheeks flushing. And it reminds him that he’s actually alive right in front of him.

 

“You’re alive,” he says again, but now with a smile and a sigh of relief. He starts preparing the shogi board. It is time for a whole new game.

 

“By the way, I heard your last words for me.” Shintarou slips and drops the shogi pieces on the floor.

 

“I didn’t say anything that time,” he says quickly as he picks up the pieces he dropped. Seijuurou bends over and helps him.

 

“I’m pretty sure I heard something.”

 

“Must have been the wind,” he huffs.

 

Seijuurou lays the pieces on his hand, his fingers lingering a second too long. Their eyes meet.

 

“Is that so?” he smiles, “Then shall I tell the wind that I love him, too?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Desy told me she'd give me her soul if I wrote her two endings.

**Author's Note:**

> Came up with this story when we were talking about akamido in AU's in Twitter way back in July. Thank you Desy for giving me this idea *v*


End file.
